Tale of 2 Cities
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I am working on 2 citiees at present. The first is Khelaphet, capital of the Magumul empire in Artemisia (I will also adapt it for my own world of Myirandios).
The second is the beginning of the river city of Thredeos, in Mivlis, on Myirandios. I will also offer it to the Community Atlas somewhere, probably in Artemisia. I have used the attached city plan as a guide.
The second is the beginning of the river city of Thredeos, in Mivlis, on Myirandios. I will also offer it to the Community Atlas somewhere, probably in Artemisia. I have used the attached city plan as a guide.
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Comments
One is enough for me
It seems to be quite organised. Is it some kind of military establishment that outgrew itself?
There are some seriously directionally challenged trees on that last map. They appear to be upside down, but I guess we won't tell them that or they might get upset :P
Super excited to see your end results
How does that boat between the bridges get out?
Canb't wait til you get it done so that I can map more of it in detail.
Here's my map of location 14, the Serapeum of the Majernus of the Empire.
i also will fix up the excessive pixelation of various backgrounds, though they do look OK in a larger version than i can show here.
I am trying to keep all symbols vector based though.
Any comments on technique or helpful hints - meaning Monsen, Sue, Lorelei and Ladiestorm, wyvern and my other helpful critics.
Its all looking very interesting - as much as I can tell at this scale, but isn't it a bit risky having more than one causeway? It weakens the city from a defensive point of view, where the enemy can attack along no less then 5 separate routes at the same time. A city on land has no choice but to have as many gates as there are main routes, but the whole point of being on an island is that its isolated... surely?
Quenten, I would suggest that the legend text font size be increased some. I can't zoom into the map enough to see which embassies you've put on Embassy Isle so I'm not sure which ones you're "missing." I'm somewhat curious as to what the origin of the Aquaduct is, as there are no nearby "mountains" from which to draw the water.
There should be 2 major Ziggurats and 7 minor ones. I think I count only 6 minors???
You might consider adding "moles" between Fortress Isle and Prison Isle and Prison Isle and the Pharos to protect the city from any storms coming from the Frigid Sea.
But Sue has drawn my attention to need for drawbridges.
Sailing ships will not be allowed by the Minotaurs within the "moat" around the city. Any trading ships must dock and load/unload at the docks on the western side of the bay at the trade ports. The only boat traffic on the Grand Canal will be barges used to transport goods to and from from the city to the docks. I figured it would be less disruptive to the land traffic over the causeways for them to be high bridges that the barges could just be poled under.
The Minotaurs are not a naval power. They do not like to travel beyond sight of land as they do not swim well -- being heavily muscled, they tend to sink -- glub, glub.
The water gates will be protected by heavy portcullis that can be lowered in times of threat, which fortunately for the Minotaurs have been rare and it has been a couple of generations since the defenses of the city have been tested by a pirate attack, which was easily routed.
Here is an image I found online that fits into my conception of how the minotaur "steer" caste would look as they head into combat.
I am also curious when I see a separate slave district what the slaves do in this town? If they are household slaves, it is usually far more efficient to quarter them in the households they work (they're going to hang around there all day anyway). If they are some kind of "industrial" slaves however, it is another matter entirely.
Most of the slaves in the city do the manual labor necessary to keep a city viable. Some are municipal slaves that work to keep the streets clean, the streets in repair, and handle the barges. Many belong to craftsmen and do the manufacturing and work in the skilled trades. It was found early on in the city's history to allow the slaves as much freedom as could be given and let them have their own quarter to run as they will, under the guidance and control of Steer overseers. Unlike many human societies where slaves are worked hard and used up, for the Minotaurs, slaves are a valuable commodity and are well cared for, as who would willingly destroy their assets?
I've attached a pdf that gives the Minotaurs' creation mythology and a description of their castes. (Their mythology differs from reality as in Quenten's concept, a group of babylonians arrived through a "gate" onto the northern coast of Artemisia, where they became infected by a plague created by the Drow Queen of the Night, who was attempting to wipe out this new vermin. Most died from the plague, but those that didn't were transformed in body into what are now known as the Minotaurs.
on a different note, i think drawbridges with towers will be the go rather than arched bridges.
I have not used directional shadows, as this is a vector based top down plan. Hopefully, smaller district plans (done by persons other than me!) will be both more detailed and show such details as shadows.
The Slave District is a barracks type arrangement, with workshop areas, for some of them, as per jerry's instructions. He has given his rationale above.
But do keep up the comments, i find them helpful and make me consider a few things I hadn't before (like defences of each causeway)